sage of Mark, rather than the acting priest Ahime- lech, may have arisen from the greater prominence of the former in the history of David's reign, and he ap- pears even at that time to have been with his father, and to have had some part in the pontifical duties. In additional explanation of the other difficulty above re- ferred to, it may be suggested as not unlikely that Ahimelech may have been the name of one of Abi- athar's sons likewise associated with him, as well as that of his father, and that copyists have confounded these names together. — Kitto, s.v. See Ahimelech.
A'bib (Deb. Abib', 3"'3X, from an obsolete root 3^X, to fructify), property, a head or ear of grain (Lev. ii, 14, "green ears;" Exod. xiii, 31, "ear"); hence, the month of newly-ripe grain (Exod. xiii, 4; xxiii, 15 ; xxxiv, 18 ; Deut. xvi, 1), the first of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, afterward (Neh. ii, 1) called NiSAN (q. v.). It began with the new moon of March, accord- ing to the Rabbins (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 3), or rath- er of April, according to Michaelis (Comment, ih M< n- sibus Ilebrmor., comp. his Commentat. Bremae, 17<;'.>, p. 16 sq.) ; at which time the first grain ripens in Pales- tine (Robinson's Researches, ii, 99, 100). See Month. Hence it. is hardly to be regarded as a strict name of a month, but rather as a designation of the sea- son ; as the Sept.,Vulg., and Saadias have well render- ed, in Exod. xiii, 4, "the month of the new grain ;" less correctly the Syriac, "the month of flowers" (comp. Bochart, Jliei-oz. i, 557). Others (as A. MiiU ler, Gloss. Saa*a, p. 2) regard the name as derived from the eleventh Egyptian month, Epep Qeiri(j>i, Plot. de Iside, p. 372) ; but this corresponds neither to March or April, but to July (Fabricii Menologium, p. 22 27 ; Jablonsky, Opusc. ed. Water, i, 65 sq.). See Tel-aeib.
Ablbas, a martyr of Edessa, burned in 322, under the Emperor Licinius. He is commemorated in the Greek Church, as a saint, on 15th November.
Ab'ida [many AW da] (Heb. Abida, rn-zx. fa- ther of knowledge, i. e. knotting; 1 Chron. i, S3, Sei t. 'A/3idd ; Gen. xxv, 4, 'Afitida, Auth. Vers. "Abidah"), the fourth of the five sons of Midian, the son of Abra- ham by Keturah (Gen. xxv, 1 ; 1 Chron. i, 33), and apparently the head of a tribe in the peninsula of Arabia, B.C. post 2000. See Arabia. Josephus (A nt. i, 15, 1) calls him Ebidas ('E/M5t). For the city Abida, see Abila.
Ab'idah [many Abi'dah], a less correct mode of Anglicizing (Gen. xxv, 4) the name Abida (q. v.).
Ab'idan (Heb. Abida?/, 'fi^K, father of judg- ment, i. e. judge; Sept. 'AfiiSdv), the son of Gideoni, and phylarch of the tribe of Benjamin at the exodo (Num. i, 11 ; ii, 22 ; x, 24). At the erection of the Tabernacle he made a contribution on the ninth day, similar to the other chiefs (Num. vii, 60, 05), B.C. 1657.
A'biel (Heb. AbieT, ^1% lit. father [i. e. pos, sessor] of God, i. e. pious, or perhaps/////* r ofstn ngth, i. e. strong; Sept. 'Apu)\), the name of two men.
1. The son of Zeror, a Benjamite (1 Sam. ix, 1 ), and father of Ner (1 Sam. xiv, 51), which last was the grandfather of Saul, the first king of Israel (1 Chron. viii, 33; ix, 39). B.C. 1093. In 1 Sam. ix, 1 he is called the "father" (q. v.) of Kish, meaning grand- father. Sec Nee.
2. An Arbathite, one of David's distinguished war- riors (1 Chron. xi, 32). B.C. 1053. In the parallel passage he is called Abi-ALBON (2 Sam. xxiii. 31). See David.
Abie'zer (Heb. id., "j"*^ father of hip. i. e. helpful; Sept. 'A/3t6&p), the name of two men.
1. The second of the three sons of Hammoleketh, sister of Gilead, grandson of Manasseh (1 Chron. vii, 18). B.C. cir. 1618. He became the founder of a family that settled beyond the Jordan [see Opheah |, from which Gideon sprang (Josh, vii, 2), and which
ABIEZRITE
16
ABI.TAH
bore this name as a patronymic (Jndg. vi, 34), a cir- cumstance that is beautifully alluded to in Gideon's delicate reply to the jealous Ephraimites (Judg. viii, 2). See Abiezrite. He is elsewhere culled Jeezer, and his descendants Jeezerites (Num. xxvi, 30).
2. A native of Anathoth, one of David's thirty chief warriors (2 Sam. xxiii, 27; 1 Chron. xi, 28), B.C. 1053. He was afterward appointed captain of the ninth contingent of troops from the Benjamites (1 Chron. xxvii, 12), B.C. 1014. See David.
Abiez'rite (Heb. Abi' ha-Ezri' , ^tSil "i^X, fa- ther of the Ezrite ; Sept. 7rar//p tov 'E£pi, Vulg. pater familiar Ezri ; but in Judg. viii, 32, 'Atji 'E£pt, de fa- milia Ezri), a patron}-mic designation of the descend- ants of Abiezer (Judg. vi, 2, 24 ; viii, 32).
Ab'igail (Heb. Abiya'yil, ^"OX, father [i. e. source'] of joy, or peril, i. q. leader of the. dance, once contracted AbigaV ', br^N, 2 Sam. xvii, 25; Sept. 'AfiiydiX v. r. 'Afiiyaia, Josephus A/3(y«<«), the name of two women.
1. The daughter of Nahash (? Jesse), sister of Da- vid, and wife of Jether or Ithra (q. v.), an Ishmaelite, by whom she had Amasa (1 Chron. ii, 1G, 17 ; 2 Sam. xvii, 25). B.C. 1068.